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Wednesday, March 13, 2013

I love being out in nature when it calls to me — and I connect to my heart. Just the other day I was out walking, during a lull in the buckets of rain we’ve been having, when I became aware of a chickadee hopping from branch to branch, directly beside me, along the sidewalk. She was no more than six feet away, keeping pace with me. I was delighted!

“I see you!” I gleefully acknowledged. “What do you want to show me today?”

It continued to hop alongside me, chirping excitedly as it bobbed along. I followed like an innocent little child, full of wonder.

Suddenly, it flitted across the street, up and over the trees. I quickly crossed the street and noticed a park with a stream on the left. I meandered down to the water, looking for signs of the chickadee, but it wasn’t down at the stream’s edge.

“Chickadee went over the trees. I’m not supposed to stop here,” I concluded. So I climbed out of the streambed and followed the sidewalk a bit more, in the general direction of the chickadee. I ambled along for several blocks until I arrived at another park. Approaching a footbridge, I crossed the stream to follow the water upstream.

Then I realized it was leading me toward another street — man-made — and I wanted to continue exploring nature. So, I made an about-face, downstream. I loved watching the water roll over the glistening stones. As I meandered along — the stream rushing by after the rain we’ve been experiencing — I became aware again of several familiar chickadee chirping sounds. I glanced up momentarily to locate their black caps in the trees and then my eyes were diverted back to the stream. I had my rubber boots on so I cautiously strolled into the gurgling water, since some interesting stones by then caught my attention.

In the stream, I paused and became aware of a sweet feminine voice behind me, excited and bubbly. I turned around to discover the voice was coming from the bubbling brook. I listened longer, fascinated at the softness, yet exuberance of the beautiful voice, unlike any I had ever heard all the years of my life. It was positively magical!

About Me

After walking away from an antiquated patriarchal belief system, "Phoenix of Faith" author has her ups and downs. In her spare time, she journals, walks, and meditates using the koan, "What is vital well-being?"